DGS49
Diamond Member
I took up the game when I was 50 years old. It is virtually impossible for an adult to learn the game and play it well. This is because of the phenomenon of "muscle memory," which phenomenon cannot occur after age 16 or so. And the golf swing is so unnatural that unless it is embedded in muscle memory, it cannot be learned at all. A million repetitions are a waste of time, because every single one of them is different, and might be totally "wrong."
"Keep your head steady, lock your elbow, rotate your wrists, turn your shoulders..." The instruction never ends. with every swing the golf coach points out another "defect" in the pathetic player's swing. You can practice until your hands fall off but muscle memory never happens. Go out the next morning and hit some balls, and you might as well have taken a nap yesterday, for all the good those repetitions have made.
But the fact is, even the worst players hit an occasional good shot...MAYBE I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!
Forget about it. You will never get it right consistently. It isn't possible.
The guys I play with never practice. Never stretch. Never read an article, watch a YouTube video, get a lesson, videotape themselves, or spend time on the putting green. I do all of that, and we suck equally. It makes no difference.
For those who are familiar with Behavioral Psychology (i.e., B.F. Skinner), the addictive nature of golf should be obvious. The specific phenomenon is "intermittent reinforcement." It is the most powerful psychological addiction known to Man, and it has been shown to get pigeons to peck at a button thousands of times in the hope (anthropomorphistically speaking) of getting a single kernel of food.
Those random good shots - and they are random, not a manifestation of learned behavior - are what keeps golfers coming back to a game that generates more anger and frustration than a wayward daughter.
Bottom line: I cannot reconcile myself to how badly I suck, after 23 years of trying. If you don't golf, keep it up.
"Keep your head steady, lock your elbow, rotate your wrists, turn your shoulders..." The instruction never ends. with every swing the golf coach points out another "defect" in the pathetic player's swing. You can practice until your hands fall off but muscle memory never happens. Go out the next morning and hit some balls, and you might as well have taken a nap yesterday, for all the good those repetitions have made.
But the fact is, even the worst players hit an occasional good shot...MAYBE I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!
Forget about it. You will never get it right consistently. It isn't possible.
The guys I play with never practice. Never stretch. Never read an article, watch a YouTube video, get a lesson, videotape themselves, or spend time on the putting green. I do all of that, and we suck equally. It makes no difference.
For those who are familiar with Behavioral Psychology (i.e., B.F. Skinner), the addictive nature of golf should be obvious. The specific phenomenon is "intermittent reinforcement." It is the most powerful psychological addiction known to Man, and it has been shown to get pigeons to peck at a button thousands of times in the hope (anthropomorphistically speaking) of getting a single kernel of food.
Those random good shots - and they are random, not a manifestation of learned behavior - are what keeps golfers coming back to a game that generates more anger and frustration than a wayward daughter.
Bottom line: I cannot reconcile myself to how badly I suck, after 23 years of trying. If you don't golf, keep it up.
